These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD,
because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet.
The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time.
Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am. You called me.”
Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth.
So he said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply,
Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.”
When Samuel went to sleep in his place,
the LORD came and revealed his presence,
calling out as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
(1 Sm 3:3b-10,19)
When you grow up in the Baptist tradition, Sunday School is an essential part of life. I remember my first Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Strong. This elderly lady gathered us children around her and told us the most wonderful Bible stories. Her story of the young boy Samuel sleeping in the temple and hearing the voice of the Lord stays with me always.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples;
for there were many who followed him.
Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners
and tax collectors and said to his disciples,
“Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus heard this and said to them,
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
(Mk 2:13-17)
The oldest memory of the Eucharist is the eating and drinking with sinners. As my old homiletics professor used to say about this passage, “If you’re not a ‘sicko,’ you don’t get Jesus.”
Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them,
not even around the door,
and he preached the word to them.
They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd,
they opened up the roof above him.
After they had broken through,
they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him,
“Child, your sins are forgiven.”
(Mk 2:1-12)
As a child, I loved this passage. I remember our Sunday School lesson with the picture of the four men on the torn up roof lowering their friend on the mat and Jesus looking up and seeing their faith.
A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
(Mk 1:40-45)
The late congressman John Lewis always talked about “good trouble,” by which he meant that change sometimes requires a little trouble. Pope Francis has a similar phrase when he says, “Hagan lío,” which is a nice Argentine way to say, “Shake things up!” Jesus was always making “good trouble.” Jesus was always “shaking things up” especially when it came to the lepers and all those that good church folks would avoid like the plague. In fact, when Jesus has encounters with the lepers, he’s usually alone. I guess it was bad enough for the disciples when Jesus sat down with the prostitutes and tax collectors, but when the lepers showed up, the disciples disappeared.
On leaving the synagogue
Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.
Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever.
They immediately told him about her.
He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.
Then the fever left her and she waited on them.
(Mk 1:29-39)
It is very interesting that Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, after she was healed, she “waited on them.” The Greek term is the formal term for ministry from which we get the word diakonos (deacon--servant). She didn’t go about saying, “Look at me, I’ve been healed!” She served them—she was a “deacon” to them. I think of my good friend, Deacon Joan Marshall (1929-2004), from All Souls Episcopal Cathedral in Asheville, NC. Deacon Joan reached out to those no one else would welcome. She was an inspiration to me and to many others. I remember her with joy.
